Securing structure of a seat of a cart for use by the elderly and handicapped persons

ABSTRACT

A cart includes a locating tube, a circular part, a bottom plate, and a control rod; the locating tube is secured on a frame of the cart; the circular part is secured at an upper end of the locating tube, and it has several gaps on an edge; the bottom plate is secured on a lower side of a seat, and it has a protruding part on a lower side; the seat is supported on the locating tube with the protruding part being held in the circular part; the control rod is pivoted on the lower side of the bottom plate, and it is normally in a first position and fitted in one of the gaps at a front end thereof, which has slopes on two lateral sides so as to become gradually narrower; the seat is angularly displaceable when the control rod is disengaged from the circular part.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a securing structure of an angularlydisplaceable seat of a cart for use by the elderly and handicappedpersons, more particularly one, which can prevent the seat from hittingthe associated part or producing noise to cause discomfort and annoyanceto the rider.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

In order for the elderly and the physically handicapped to be easilyseated on the seats of carts especially provided for use by them, theseats are first angularly displaced so as to make the front edgesthereof face the left or the right direction. And, the seats are turnedback to the original orientation for the front edges to face the frontagain after people are seated thereon from the left or the right sidesof the carts.

Referring to FIG. 6, a currently existing cart 4 for use by the elderlyand handicapped persons includes a frame, and a seat; the frame has anouter tube 43 secured on an upper side, and a locating tube 44 insertedin and secured to the outer tube 43; the seat includes a bottom platemember 41, and a pivotal control rod 42 on a lower side of the bottomplate member 41. The bottom plate member 41 has a protruding part 411 ona lower side thereof. The pivotal control rod 42 is connected to atorsion spring so that it is normally biased to a substantiallyhorizontal position. The locating tube 44 has a circular part 441 at anupper end, which has a cavity 442 on a middle of an upper side thereof,and several gaps 443 on an edge thereof for receiving a front end of thepivotal control rod 42. The seat is supported on the locating tube 44with the protruding part 411 being held in the cavity 442, and with thepivotal control rod 42 being fitted in one of the gaps 443 of thecircular part 441 at the front end thereof; thus, the seat is secured ontop of the locating tube 44. Therefore, the orientation of the seat canbe changed after the pivotal control rod 42 is pivoted away from theoriginal horizontal position, thus allowing a person to sit down on theseat from a left or a right side of the cart.

Furthermore, in order for the pivotal control rod 42 to be more easilyfitted into the gaps 443, the front end of the pivotal control rod 42has a smaller width than the gaps 443. Consequently, the pivotal controlrod 42 will hit the circular part 441, and produce noise when the cartmoves along, causing discomfort and annoyance to the rider.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The securing structure of the present invention includes a locatingtube, a circular part, a bottom plate member, and a control rod. Thelocating tube is held in and securely connected to an outer tube securedon an upper side of a frame of the cart. The circular part is secured atan upper end of the locating tube, and it has several gaps on an edgethereof. The bottom plate member is secured on a lower side of a seat ofthe cart, and it has a protruding part on a lower side thereof. The seatis supported on the locating tube with the protruding part being held inthe circular part. The control rod is pivoted on the lower side of thebottom plate member. The control rod is normally in a first position andfitted in a selected one of the gaps of the circular part at a front endthereof, and it can be pivoted upwards by means of exerting an externalforce thereon; the control rod will pivot back to the first positionwhen there one stops exerting force thereon. The seat is angularlydisplaceable when the control rod is pivoted and disengaged from thecircular part. The front end of the control rod is formed with slopes ontwo lateral sides so as to become gradually narrower.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood by referring to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the securing structure of aseat of a cart according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a lateral section of the securing structure of the invention,

FIG. 3 is a view of the present securing structure in use (1),

FIG. 4 is a view of the present securing structure in use (2),

FIG. 5 is a view of the present securing structure in use (3), and

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional securingstructure of a seat of a cart.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of a cart for use bythe elderly and handicapped persons includes a seat 1, and a locatingtube 3.

The locating tube 3 is inserted in and securely connected to an outertube 2 secured on an upper side of a frame of the cart. The seat 1includes a bottom plate member 11, a protruding part 12 secured on alower side of the bottom plate member 11, a pivotal shaft 13 positionunder and supported with the bottom plate member 11, to the right of theprotruding part 12, a torsion spring 14 positioned around the pivotalshaft 13, and a control rod 15. The control rod 15 is securely connectedto the pivotal shaft 13, and biased to a first position by means of thetorsion spring 14; thus, the control rod 15 can be forced to move awayfrom the first position. The control rod 15 has a front end, which isformed with slopes 151 on two lateral sides thereof so as to becomegradually narrower towards a bottom thereof.

The locating tube 3 has a circular part 31 at an upper end thereof. Thecircular part 31 has a cavity 32 on a middle of an upper side thereof,and several gaps 33 on an edge thereof for receiving the front end ofthe control rod 15.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, in assembly, the seat 1 is supported on thelocating tube 3 with the protruding part 12 being held in the cavity 32,and with the control rod 15 being fitted in one of the gaps 33 of thecircular part 31 at the front end thereof; thus, the seat 1 is securedon top of the locating tube 3. And, the orientation of the seat 1 can bechanged after the control rod 15 is disengaged from the circular part 31by means of depressing the other end of the control rod 15 so as topivot the control rod 15 away from its first position, as shown in FIG.3. Consequently, a person is allowed to sit down on the seat 1 from aleft or a right side of the cart after the seat 1 is angularly displacedaway from its front-facing position by ninety degrees; when the userstops depressing the other end of the control rod 15, the control rod 15will be biased back to its first position by the torsion spring 14, andengage the circular part 31 again. Because the front end of the controlrod 15 becomes gradually narrower from the top to the bottom, it can bemore easily passed into the corresponding gap 33 of the circular part31. And, when the control rod 15 is biased back to its first position bythe torsion spring 14, it will be tightly fitted in the correspondinggap 33 to engage the circular part 31 at the upper portion of the frontend thereof, leaving no space between the front end thereof and thecircular part 31, as shown in FIG. 4.

From the above description, it can be easily seen that because of thesecuring structure of the present invention, the seat will be preventedfrom hitting the circular part or producing noise to cause discomfortand annoyance to the user when the user is riding the cart.

1. An improvement on securing structure of a seat of a cart for use bythe elderly and handicapped persons, comprising a locating tube insertedin and securely connected to an outer tube secured on an upper side of aframe of a cart; a circular part secured at an upper end of the locatingtube; the circular part having a plurality of gaps on an edge thereof; abottom plate member secured on a lower side of a seat of the cart; thebottom plate member having a protruding part secured on a lower side;the seat being supported on the locating tube with the protruding partof the bottom plate member being held in the circular part; and acontrol rod pivoted on the lower side of the bottom plate member; thecontrol rod having a front end; the control rod being normally in afirst position and fitted in a selected one of the gaps of the circularpart at the front end; the control rod being capable of being pivotedupwards and disengaged from the circular part by means of exerting anexternal force thereon; the control rod being going to pivot back to thefirst position when one stops exerting force thereon; the seat beingangularly displaceable relative to the circular part when the controlrod is disengaged from the circular part; the front end of the controlrod being formed with slopes on two lateral sides thereof so as tobecome gradually narrower.